Monster robot heads for space station

Astronauts plan to take off for the International Space Station on Tuesday where they will assemble a massive two-armed robot named Dextre. Once built, the 3,400 pound robot will be 12-feet tall and feature 11-foot arms. Dextre was designed by the Canadian Space Agency to conduct external work on the space station. From the Associated Press:

"Now I wouldn't go as far to say that we're worried it's going to go run amok and take over the space station or turn evil or anything because we all know how it's operated and it doesn't have a lot of its own intelligence," (astronaut Garrett) Reisman told The Associated Press last week.

"But I'll tell you something ... He's enormous and to see him with his giant arms, it is a little scary. It's a little monstrous, it is."

Link (via Dethroner)

[#1 posted by Cupcake Faerie , March 10, 2008 9:38 AM]

Let me be perfectly clear. I ,for one, welcome our new robot overlords.

[#2 posted by zish , March 10, 2008 10:43 AM]

"Dextre, by the way, isn't necessarily a 'he.'"

All the evidence one needs to see is the provided photo.

Or, it may be that I've seen one too many robot hentai flicks.

[#3 posted by Evan Rappaport , March 10, 2008 11:06 AM]

Find Sarah Connor.

[#4 posted by MazingerBreakfast , March 10, 2008 11:09 AM]

It kinda reminds me of the robot motobikes on Mercury in Asimov's "I, Robot".

[#5 posted by woid , March 10, 2008 11:12 AM]

It's not the giant arms that scare me. It's one of the other, uh, extremities.

[#6 posted by Bugs , March 10, 2008 11:12 AM]

"the 3,400 pound robot will be 12-feet tall and feature 11-foot arms"

It's a fantastic piece of tech and I can't wiat to see it in action but I'm dismayed that they didn't give it a much, much more ominous name.

[#7 posted by ZippySpincycle , March 10, 2008 11:16 AM]

"Dextre" is a fairly ominous name. After all, Dextre is a serial killre.

[#8 posted by MajorD , March 10, 2008 11:24 AM]

Okay, I mis-parsed the headline and the picture. I thought it was saying that someone (NASA?) would be providing some "monster robot heads for space station". I.e., someone noticed that with all of its new extensions, the space station was beginning to resemble a Transformer, so there was going to be another module added at one end, with that module looking like a big robot head.

Which I still think would be a pretty cool idea.

[#9 posted by semiotix , March 10, 2008 11:30 AM]

I say we make it fight the Canadarm.

[#10 posted by jayemdee , March 10, 2008 11:33 AM]

sadly, MDA, the Canadian based company that built the Canadarm and Dextre is being sold to an American company. Nothing wrong with American companies, but it's always been nice to see that little Canada logo on the Canadarm. I'd imagine it will soon be rebranded, perhaps to Pepsi or someother multinational. The walmart arm?

[#11 posted by ill lich , March 10, 2008 11:41 AM]

(I'm scared.)

[#12 posted by buttseks , March 10, 2008 12:30 PM]

Best headline ever.

[#13 posted by Michael R. Bernstein , March 10, 2008 1:39 PM]

I agree with Bugs @ #6. I *much* better name would have been 'Sinistre'. Or maybe just 'Lefty'.

[#14 posted by Moon , March 10, 2008 2:20 PM]

If it's Canadian, it's got DRM on it and won't work with the Space Station systems!

Oh, noes!!!

[#15 posted by Bazilisk , March 10, 2008 6:25 PM]

YES

[#16 posted by padster123 , March 11, 2008 10:25 AM]

The main moneter robot heading for the international space station is Europe's "Jules Verne" space truck.

Go Europe! Someone had to step up and replace that antiquated, expensive and unreliable shuttle!!! ;)